Prayer for July 27, 2021

Prayer for July 27, 2021: Please pray with me. God of shalom, come to us. Shalom is all about wholeness and completeness. It’s God’s imaginative creativeness. It is the kingdom of God. Shalom is about restoration. Shalom is about making things whole. It’s about justice and righteousness. It is about hope. It is about moving to a bright future right now in the present time. It is all this and more. And it is possible – because you, O Lord, are its author. It is what you are actively doing and always have been. You move all of creation to wholeness. How beautiful is that? Immensely. Why would anyone not want that? Yet there are plenty that refuse it, that reject it. But do they reject what shalom is really about, or are they really rejecting some distorted idea of shalom that is just more of the same of what we experience all the time – power grabs, violence, dehumanization, exploitation, abuse, oppression, etc. No wonder people would reject something like that – there is no creativity in any of these things. But you and your ways are creative and inspiring. Help us to see your creativity. Help us to see how life giving it is. Help us to share shalom with others that they may be made whole as well. Amen.

Call to Action: For today, take some time to imagine – imagine what God’s kingdom and God’s reign looks like. What would God’s shalom look like in your life, in your community, in our nation, and in the world. What does it look like in your house? How is God inviting you to live into what that is, right now? This isn’t a call to save the world. This is a call to live into what you have already been given – a vision of what God is up to. You are being invited to participate in something incredible and transformative. Is there really a good reason not to do this? Start today. And invite others to do so as well.